When There Was Darkness
by GrassFairy
Summary: "Look, I know all of this may seem impossible, I mean, nobody said taking back the world would be easy. I know we only have a small team, but that's all they need," he said, gesturing to the city full of people. "The people want hope, they want superheroes. Once they have that, they'll back us up. And then there's no way we can lose."


AN: Besides the fact that this is an AU, I can't really tell you much without giving the story away! There are NO oc's, just in case you wanted to know. Oh, and these next few chapters will be like introductions, so I hope they aren't too boring!

Ch 1~ If Only

Artemis sat on the torn, fake leather seat of an old bus. She gazed out the window as the clunky piece of machinery bumped along, braiding and unbraiding her long, blonde hair. She was going to another colony, the Gotham City Colony- not by choice, but by order. She scoffed under her breath, glancing up at the armed guard standing at the front of the vehicle. The radiation levels of the city were deemed safe a few months ago, and now the torn up, broken city would serve as her new home.

Artemis was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice the bus stopping to board more passengers. She heard a cough, and looked up to see a dirty girl with black hair staring down at her.

"It's ok that I sit here, right?" she asked. Artemis noticed a quiver in the girl's voice. She grunted, shifting closer to the window.

After another couple of hours, the bus screeched to a stop at their destination. Grabbing her bag from the rack above, Artemis exited the bus. She went to retrieve her toolkit from the compartment under the vehicle, and found the guard tossing the passenger's luggage carelessly onto the ground.

"Hey-!" Artemis shouted just as he threw her toolbox onto the dirt. She scooped up the red case, shooting an icy glare into the guard. He noticed, and turned to her.

"Problem?" He snarled.

"Uh, yeah, I do actually. It's y-" A heavy hand gripped her arm, stopping her mid-sentence.

"Back down. This fight would be lost," someone whispered in her ear. Artemis turned and found herself staring into the eyes of a tall, dark-skinned man. She noticed that his grip was strong, and he would have been intimidating if it wasn't for the concern in his gray eyes.

Artemis shrugged off the hand, but obeyed the order, walking away from the guard and heading off towards the city.

After walking a few yards, there was a crash and a gasping "no!" Artemis looked back to see the girl from earlier kneeling by a small wooden box. It had a crack in the side, and ashes were seeping out onto the dirt.

Before Artemis could go back to give the guard a serious ass-whooping, a man- the one who held her back earlier- ran towards the girl. He kneeled next to her and helped scoop up the ashes. He then helped the girl up, whispering something in her ear before wrapping a protective arm around her and continuing towards the city.

Artemis turned back as well, eyeing the shoddy wooden GCC sign, held up by a few wooden beams. She caught sight of someone leaning up against one of the beams, but she blinked, and the figure was gone.

Artemis sighed and shook her head. "Get ahold of yourself," she muttered, continuing into the new city.

She weaved her way through the shacks of the run-down town, finally finding the repair garage where she was supposed to stay and work. Attached to the garage was a rough looking house, if you could even call it that.

The door was unlocked, so she nudged it open, dropping her luggage in the entryway. There was a door to her left that led to the workshop, then a set of wooden stairs in front of her. To the right, there was an empty room. Artemis walked into it, turning a circle.

"Hello?" She called into the seemingly abandoned shack.

There was a tap on her shoulder. "You rang?"

Artemis jumped and spun around to see a slight, black-haired boy with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"Hey! Don't _ever _sneak up on me!" She hissed.

"Can't blame him." Another voice said. Artemis whipped around again to see a tall, stern-looking redhead leaning against the wall.

Artemis gritted her teeth. "Alright, next person to sneak up on me gets hit."

So, naturally, Artemis heard another sound behind her. She spun and lashed out with all of her force.

Her fist met something soft. There was a surprised "oof!" as a slim redhead boy collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach.

"Uhnn, nice to meet you too New Girl," He groaned, rolling in agony on the ground as the raven-haired boy cackled hysterically. From behind her, the other redhead coughed.

"Sorry about them. I'm Roy, and he's Dick," Roy said, gesturing to the smallest of the boys. "Oh, and Wallace is the Drama-Queen on the floor."

At that, the boy on the floor quit his act and sat up, glowering at Roy.

"Hey! Nobody calls me 'Wallace'!" He said. Roy smirked.

"Oh, sorry, I meant _Wallinda_."

Lightning fast, Wallace was off of the floor, lunging at Roy. They tumbled to the ground, wrestling like, well, like boys.

"Oh great, just what I need." Artemis sighed.

"You get used to it." Dick laughed, watching the fray.

After a few minutes, Roy had Wallace in a chokehold, his face turning red, then purple.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Why doesn't he give up?" she asked Dick. He just smirked.

Wallace's eyes started drooping, and his grip on Roy went slack. Roy flipped the half-conscious boy onto his back, pinning him to the floor with a single hand.

"Ha! Beat you again _Wallace_," Roy sneered. The pinned boys eyes rolled back and fluttered closed, and his head lolled to the side.

"Crap." Roy grumbled, lightly slapping the now unconscious Wallace in a failed attempt to get him to come around. He sighed, leaning back as he started to get off the boy.

And just as Roy released his grip, Wallace came back from the dead. He gave Roy a punch to the stomach then flipped the older boy onto his back with a loud thud that shook the whole shack.

The new champion looked up at Artemis, grinning slyly.

"The name's Wally. Nice to- oof!" Roy shoved the smaller boy to the ground, standing and brushing himself off. Wally scrambled to his feet as well.

Artemis sighed. "Okay… well, this has been fun and all, but I'm kinda tired. I think I'll just… pack it up for the night."

"But, it's only like, 7-" Dick jabbed Wally in the ribs. "Sure, I'll show you your room," the youngest boy said. Artemis followed him out of the room and up the rickety set of stairs. At the top of the staircase, a hulking figure stepped out in front of the two.

"Oh, hey Conner," Dick said.

"Oh great, there's more of you." Artemis muttered under her breath.

"Who's this?" Conner said, crossing his muscular arms over his chest, steel blue eyes locking onto Artemis.

Artemis matched his cold glare with a fierce look of her own, sizing the boy up. He was more than a head taller than her and easily twice her weight.

Dick, taking notice of the tension, coughed slightly. "This is…" he trailed off, realizing that, with the sudden wrestling match downstairs, nobody asked the new girl her name.

"I'm Artemis." The girl said. Conner grunted, then pushed past her, disappearing down the stairs.

"Well, I feel… welcome." Artemis sighed.

Dick laughed. "Don't worry, he's like this with everyone. C'mon," The boy said, continuing down the hall to the very last room.

"And here's your room," Dick said. To Artemis, it looked more like a closet.

"Look, I know it isn't much, but it's all we have. If only…" Dick sounded like he wanted to continue, but he stopped himself short, shaking his head to clear the unspoken thought.

"You probably had a tough trip… I'll let you get some sleep." He spoke softly. Artemis glanced into the small room, then back to Dick. But the boy was gone.

The girl frowned, walking into her room and plunking down on the cot. As she curled up under the thin blanket, her mind was drawn back to what Dick said.

_If only…_

Thousands of sentences could be formed from those two words, and she kept thinking of the possibilities. But Artemis's mind was drawn back to one, the one Dick would have undoubtedly said:

_"If only the heroes could have saved the world from chaos, no one would have to live in government-sanctioned slums."_

"Yeah, 'if only'," Artemis whispered under her breath, closing her eyes and falling into a black, dreamless sleep.

* * *

AN: Yeah, not super exciting, but I hope it at least got you curious enough to wait for the next chapter! I would love some comments/questions/criticism! Oh, and also tell me if you noticed any mistakes!


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